Beijing 2022: Odermatt wins men’s GS and his first Olympic medal

The Swiss rocket does it again! After leading the first run of the men’s GS by 0.49 seconds on Luca de Aliprandini (ITA), Marco Odermatt (SUI) produced a solid run to secure his first Olympic gold medal. The Swiss skier has been dominating the GS World Cup circuit all season and today proved that he is currently the best in the world, finishing 0.19 seconds in front of silver medalist Zan Kranjec (SLO).

On winning his first major championship medal:
"It's unbelievable. It was a hard day, with the conditions, with such a long wait between the two runs. It was more than five hours for me, it was such a long time to re-think everything and it was hard to stay focused. I tried to sleep some minutes in between.
"I actually never dreamt about it but now it still feels like a dream."

On risking everything to make sure it was the gold he won:
"It was challenging, I really risked everything in the second run because I wanted not just the medal, I wanted the gold medal. It's difficult because you can lose everything but today it paid off. 
"I won the medal today but it's so much between (you) and a medal, there are so many shadows behind the medal, on the other side."

Claiming his very first Olympic medal, Zan Kranjec (SLO) started his second run in 8th, with little hope of claiming a podium finish. The Slovenian stunned most by giving it his all and placed 2nd. Kranjec’s best GS result this season was 3rd in the Soelden (AUT) World Cup race, however, did not manage to place higher than 10th since. He becomes the second Slovenian to claim a silver medal at in the Olympic GS, after Jure Franko (SLO) back in 1984 in Sarajevo (JUG).

On jumping up from eighth after the first run to grab silver: 
"I don't fully understand it yet. In (Republic of) Korea (Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018) I was fourth so you never know if you will get another chance to fight for a medal.
"After the first run I said maybe it's over, I don't have any more chance. But my second run was really good. It's unbelievable. 
"My family, my friends supported me, they believed in me. I know they are celebrating right now. It's in the middle of the night (in Slovenia) but it doesn't matter right now."

Finishing his first run in 3rd place, current GS World Champion, Mathieu Faivre (FRA), held onto his position after the second run and claimed his first Olympic medal. Finishing with a total difference of 1.34 seconds behind the Olympic Champion, Odermatt, Faivre claimed the bronze medal.

On winning bronze: 
"It's been a tough day, it's been a nervous day, it's been a long day to the second run. I didn't feel really good in the second run actually, it was really tough because of the conditions, because of the surface. But I finished the day with an Olympic medal and I am so happy about it. 
"I am going to enjoy it with all my team and friends. I can't wait to share it with them because without my team, without my serviceman, I couldn't have done it."

American, River Radamus showed that he has the potential to be fighting for top results after his performance today. Finishing his first run in 9th place, the American fought his way back to finish in a respectable 4th place in his first Winter Olympic Games.

On finishing fourth:
"My approach to this whole season has been process-based; focusing on the things I can control, making sure I do the steps to prepare and knowing that this is an outdoor sport. Things happen on race day that I can't control the outcome.
"It's tough to swallow right now for sure, but I know in my heart that I did everything I could to prepare for today, I couldn't have asked for more. I could have hoped for more, but I'm really proud of my work today and throughout the season, so I'll take pride in this result and carry it forward into the next races."

There were several upsets throughout the second run today, where favourites Luca de Aliprandini (ITA) and Manuel Feller (AUT) did not finish their run. Whilst Norwegian, Henrik Kristoffersen finished 8th after making a mistake in his second run which cost him precious time.

Aliprandini (ITA) on crashing in the second run:
"The second run I started and already started to lose a little bit of line from the second gate. At the fifth or sixth gate the mistake there was just because I couldn't find a good sensation from the beginning. It also happened a little bit in the first run, but I could recover from then and make a good run.”

Feller (AUT) on the conditions and the second run being postponed:
"Special race. I've never skied something like this before. Today was the first time I took a nap between two runs. They made a five-hour break. The first run was far from responsible in my opinion. The visibility was so bad you didn't see anything. The second run they already waited so long till it's dark again. The only positive thing of today is that the best GS (giant slalom) skier of the season is winning."

On skiing out of the second run:
"If you DNF (do not finish) in a race and you are not able to ski next to the gates, because there are so many bumps and so much snow next to the gates, it's definitely not good conditions."

Kristoffersen (NOR) on recovering from a mistake during the second run to finish eighth:
"It doesn't matter when you lose 1.5 (seconds) for sure on it. I didn't feel that great going down the first pitch. I felt like I skied really bad and slow down the first pitch, and I think that made me stress a little bit. I stressed a little bit there, and then I knew that this bump from the first run was still in this right-footer. But still I make the mistake, so yeah. That's how it is."

Athletes who will be competing in the men’s slalom will have several more days to train before racing starts again on Wednesday the 16th. The first run is scheduled to start at 10:15 local time / 03:15 CET and the second run is scheduled to start at 13:45 local time / 03:15 CET.

Quotes courtesy of Olympic Information Service